


Shattered

by BossPotato01



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: But only a little, Child AU, Child Abuse, Crying, Light Angst, Pain, Teen Deceit, Teen Logan, Teen Patton, Violent Thoughts, Young Romulus, Young Virgil, lying, young Roman, young remus
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-17
Updated: 2020-05-17
Packaged: 2021-03-02 18:54:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,178
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24231688
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BossPotato01/pseuds/BossPotato01
Summary: The young King Romulus begins to hear a voice, telling him to do wicked things. His friends won't believe him, but his enemies will? How can he know who to trust as his life falls apart?
Relationships: Anxiety | Virgil Sanders/ Deceit | Janus Sanders (Paternal), Morality | Patton Sanders/ Creativity | Romulus "King" Sanders (Paternal)
Kudos: 16





	1. Mirror On The Wall

“Creativity,” he heard a voice call from the other room. “King! Where are you, buddy? We’re gonna watch a movie!”

Romulus jumped up from his game of make believe, where he had been pretending to be horrifically injured while attempting to slay a dragon-witch, and ran to the door. “Coming Patton!” Romulus grabbed his plastic crown from the nightstand, where he had left it for safe-keeping, and carefully adjusted it upon his head in the mirror.

“What are we watching?” Romulus called as he tied on his royal sash. A king had to look presentable in front of his subjects.

“Snow White!” Patton called back. The boy-king jumped up and down with glee.

He loved that film. The Prince, saving the day at the end, and riding off with his love into the sunset… it was magical. Though he always had to hide behind Patton during the scary scenes, it was one of his favorites.

Just as he began to leave the room, he heard something. It was a quiet whisper. “Have you ever wondered what it’d be like to kill somebody?”

Romulus spun around. “Who said that?”

The voice spoke again. “It’d be so easy. So, so easy. Don’t you want to know what it’s like?”

Romulus drew his wooden sword from the sheath on his belt. He spun around the room. “Show yourself, you cowardly monster!”

The voice laughed. “Come, look at me. Come look in the mirror, Romulus.”

Carefully, in case it was a trap, his sword raised, he walked back to the long mirror leaning on the wall. Romulus gasped. The reflection wasn’t him. Well, it was, but not how mirrors are supposed to be. The boy staring back at him was poised, picking at some grime under his nails. His hair was streaked with grey, and under his eyes were bagged slightly. They dressed the same, they had the same face. They were the same, but somehow entirely different.

“Who- Who are you!?” Romulus demanded, pointing the sword at the boy in the mirror.

“I’m the King, of course. We’re the King.”

“No!”

“Yes. Now back to what I was saying. Have you ever wondered what it’d be like to kill someone? Other than the dragon-witches terrorizing our kingdom, of course.”

Romulus shook his head. “I could never kill the innocent. I’m a hero, not a villain.”

The mirror-boy shook his head. “Aww, but you could. Nothing’s stopping you. You could take that sword in your hand, and run it through Patton. It probably wouldn’t kill him, but hey, than you can say you’ve stabbed somebody. That’s pretty cool!”

“NO! That’s horrible. Very not cool. I could never do that to Patton, I love him. We’re family.” Though Romulus protested, his head began to ache. There’s nothing really stopping me, is there? NO!

Romulus dropped his sword, holding his head. “Go away!” He yelled at the mirror, falling to his knees.

“Mirror, mirror ‘pon the wall. We’re the fairest of them all!” The mirror-boy said, before breaking into laughter, and sitting down cross-legged in front of Romulus.

“You’re not me,” Romulus insisted, his mind feeling like it was on fire. “So go away!”

“Yes, I am. And you can’t make me go away. I’m you!”

“I SAID GO AWAY!” Romulus yelled, shoving over the mirror, which shattered into many pieces with a deafening crash. Romulus broke down sobbing, surrounded by the glass shards, his crown broken in half in the center of it all.

The pounding of feet in the hallway broke the silence following the loud noise. “King, kiddo, are you alright?” Patton asked, rushing over to him. Logan was right on his tail, kneeling down on Romulus’ other side.

Romulus looked at Patton. His mind was racing with what the other-boy had said. It would be so easy to kill him. Patton laid a hand on Romulus’ shoulder. “Rom-”

Romulus flinched away from his touch, leaning into Logan’s chest and sobbing. The Logical side awkwardly patted Romulus on the back, having a silent conversation with Patton.

Logan leaned down a bit so he was more at the creative side’s level. “Romulus. Can you please look at me?” Creativity sniffled, and sat back on his knees, wiping his nose on his sleeve. “There we go. Now, can you tell Patton and I why you’re crying? If it’s about the mirror, we’re not mad. You’ve just got to be more careful next time you play, that’s all.”

The creative side shook his head. “No, there was a boy in the mirror. He was saying a bunch of terrible things, and I told him to go away, but he wouldn’t. He was hurting me. I- I just thought that maybe he would stop if I…”

Patton and Logan looked at each other. Patton smiled softly. “Romulus, buddy, you’ve got a very overactive imagination. But there wasn’t anyone in the mirror, that’s impossible. You don’t have to lie to us, we’d believe it was an accident. Now, let’s get this cleaned up, ok?”

Logan tried to lift the small creative side up and away from the broken glass, but Romulus wriggled out of his grasp and fell back to the ground with a thump. “No! You don’t understand! It was real, I swear!”

Patton sighed, somehow already a tired parent despite his young age. “Romulus, that’s enough. Let’s clean up the mirror-shards, I don’t want you to step in it.”

Romulus began to sob. “Why don’t you believe me? I’m not a liar!”

Logan and Patton made eye contact again. “King, we know you’re not a liar. But we also know that sometimes your playing gets a little out of hand. It’s alright that you sometimes get confused about what’s real and what’s not, you’re young, and we’ll help you get through that.”

Romulus stood up, tearing away from the older-sides’ grasp. Tears once again beginning to slide down his cheeks. “Fine! If you don’t care, I’ll go tell somebody who will!” And with that, he flung open the door, and ran from the room, away from the calls of the other sides.


	2. Friends On The Other Side

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Romulus seeks darker company.

Down in the darkest pits of Thomas’ mind were the most demonic, aggressive thoughts, emotions and beasts. Nobody ever went there. Above that was storage, for Thomas’s memories. But above that was the home of the dark sides.

The common room of this fun-house of horrors was empty, and dark, but Romulus was brave. He carefully wandered the maze of hallways, until he found a room with light coming out from under the door. Romulus knocked carefully on the door, fear racking his body. Be brave. You’re a prince.

“Come in,” said the voice from inside. Romulus took a deep breath, and shakily reached out and opened the door.

Romulus opened the door, standing awkwardly in the doorway, taking in the whole room. There were masks decorating the room, hanging on the walls beside pictures of Thomas and the other sides. Sitting on the sofa across the room was Deceit. The dark side was not in the villain-ish outfit he usually wore, but wearing black jeans, a yellow t-shirt, and black suspenders. He still had his gloves, but his hat hung on the side of the sofa. In his lap lay a large snake. Romulus gasped when he saw the snake.

Deceit looked up, his expression showing surprise as he stroked his snake. “What do you want, little one?” He said, his voice monotone. Romulus whipped away his tears, before cautiously approaching the dark side. When Deceit saw the tears upon the small side’s face, his expression softened.

“What’s the matter?” Deceit asked. Romulus climbed onto the sofa next to the dark side, staying awkwardly away from the snake. Despite his sudden nerves, he needed to man-up and talk to the side he feared.

“I need help,” Romulus said softly, not making eye-contact. He didn’t want to look into the snake-eyes.

Deceit began to laugh, sending a shiver up Romulus’ back. “And what makes you think that I can help you?”

Romulus’ lip began to quiver. Deceit raised his eyebrows. “Logan and Patton think I’m a liar.”

Deceit’s eyes widened. He picked up the snake on his lap, and moved it to the floor, where it hissed and slithered away. “You’re not a liar, Creativity.”

Romulus sighed. “Oh good. I was worried. Wait… was that a lie?”

“No, no.” Deceit grinned. The creative side sighed sadly. “But however, and I’m just wondering, why did they call you a liar?”

Romulus forced himself to look in the dark side’s eyes. “I saw things. Things they told me wasn’t there.”

“Well, you are creativity. You daydream. Is that so surprising?”

“But it was real! It was really real!”

Deceit pressed a finger to his lips. “Shhh. I know you’re telling the truth. That’ sss my entire job.”

Romulus nodded, sniffling. “Thanks, I guess. I just… I hate not being taken seriously. I know I’m young, and I can exaggerate sometimes, but that doesn’t mean that I can’t be serious too or that I don’t understand the difference between reality and imagination.”

Deceit nodded. “I understand completely.”

Just then, a small boy about Roman’s age walked in the room. He was wearing a black hoodie with purple patchwork, black jeans, black converse, and an MCR tee. His chocolate brown eyes had black eyeshadow and eyeliner around them, and his black hair had a streak of dark purple in the front which was falling in his face.

The boy then gave him a weird look, and Romulus realized he’d been staring.

“Who’s that?” The boy asked.

“Anxiety, this is Romulus. He’s having the same problem you did a few years ago. I was actually about to call you out to see if you might want to talk to him,” Deceit introduced. Anxiety gave him a sharp look as if he’d brought something touchy up. He then mouthed something, Romulus couldn’t quite make it all out, but it was something along the lines of, not in front of him.

Anxiety then looked back to Romulus, his eyes were unnaturally calculating for his age. He looked at Romulus as if he were dissecting him, picking him apart to determine his worth. Then, he walked forward carefully, and shakily stuck a hand out. “Hey. My name’s Anxiety. It’s nice to meet you.”

Romulus smiled, shaking the boy’s hand. “Romulus, but you knew that already. It’s nice to meet you too.”


	3. I Bid You Goodbye

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter's from Virgil's perspective.

“Hey, do you want to go talk at my place instead? I have cookies,” Anxiety asked the other boy, expecting rejection. (what else is new?)

Romulus smiled widely. He was always smiling. It was weird, everyone else he’d ever met never smiled this often. It was different, but… nice. “Sure!”

“Why don’t you go wait outside, I want to talk to Deceit a bit before we go.”

“Okay, I’ll be out front.” Romulus jumped off the couch and skipped out of the room, whistling some Disney song.

Anxiety turned to the face he’d once loved as a father. “I only came by to grab some of the last of my things. I’m not one of you anymore. Don’t think that me showing up here means anything.”

Deceit sighed. “Verge, I love you like a son. Why can’t you understand that everything I did, I did because it was what I thought was best for you?”

Anxiety shook his head sadly. “That may be true. But I’m not dark anymore. I’m not light either, though. I’m alone. And I can live with that. But I won’t let you make me into something I’m not. I don’t hate you. But, I don’t exactly love you anymore either. I respect you. And for now, that’ll have to be enough. Goodbye, Janus.”

Deceit’s shoulders slumped, though he flinched at the sound of his real name. “I… I’m not happy. But, I understand. I still love you, but I can’t change your mind. I wish you the best, sweetie. I hope you can find some friends. That Romulus boy seems like he’s like you, you know. Maybe you two can be friends. He seems nice enough.”

Anxiety smiled softly. He couldn’t remember the last time that happened. He’d missed it. “I hope so.” And then he was gone.

Romulus was waiting outside as promised. “Ready?” he asked.

Anxiety nodded determinedly. He wouldn’t ever look back. “Yeah. I’m ready.” he held out his hand. “My place can’t be found by anyone but me. I’ll have to lead you.” Roman grabbed the hand shyly. It was warm and soft.

Romulus gave a crooked grin. “I think we’ll be good friends. Good friends never have to worry about accidentally cutting out the other's eyes.” Romulus flinched as soon as the words came out of his mouth. Anxiety swallowed hard, biting his lip uncomfortably.

"I... I'm sorry, I don't know where that came from!" Romulus insisted, gripping at his hair and tugging lightly with exasperation.

"It's okay. Just... creepy, you know?" On that mini freak out of a note, Anxiety closed his eyes and teleported to his home.


End file.
